NOTHING...

...I got nothing! Haven't been doing much ever since the Chicago marathon on Oct/12. I've only ran ONCE and have done spinning at the gym 3 times I think. In one hand it's kind of nice to take a break, and not only from swim/bike/run but healthy food and not drinking break. On the other hand I am starting to miss it and I feel like my body is like: "uh... what's wrong??" Been wanting to get out and do something but I guess since I am not officially training for any race I don't have that urge/motivation or that pre-set schedule...

It's been busy though. Work has been not only busy but hectic busy and more than anything scary. Thanks to the economy right now just like many other companies we have been having layoffs. Not good. Even though so far I'm ok but nobody is safe. Hopefully things will get better... and over soon!

One of my sisters (I have two older sisters) came to visit from Ecuador for about 10 days. She came with her husband and little baby girl (almost 2 yrs old). They came during a fun time, elections - even though I was DONE with the campaign ads and all - and Halloween, which I love. It's so much fun. We did the typical touristic stuff, went out to eat, shopping, etc. We had a fantastic time.

I just finished watching an awesome movie I'd like to recommend. It's called "Into the Wild" directed by Sean Penn and based on a true story. It was excellent! Definitely on my 20 top list.

My next big, or HUGE event is next month. On Dec 20 the familia and I are going to CUENCA, Ecuador for almost a month. I can't wait. My whole family is down there. It's going to be so great to spend the holidays there with them. I hardly can't wait. This year is extra especial because, number one: since I came to the States (9 yrs ago) I have never been back for Christmas. I've been back, in fact we try to make it down there every year but we usually go in the summer or any other month. And secondly, and in fact more importantly because dad has been sick and I want to go see him and spend time with him. Of course I want to see mom and everybody else too :)

ART is great. I like it a lot. Have done 3 sessions so far and Heather - the Chiro - wants me to go once a week. To be honest I don't know if it is helping because it only hurts when I run long distances at race pace which of course I haven't done. But I really like the way it feels.

Ok my friends, for those who live in the Midwest and northern areas, stay warm. For the rest, I hate you guys! Just kidding! Enjoy your off season, let the body recover and more than anything have fun!

PC

BofA Chicago Marathon.. a week later.

It's been way too long since I last wrote here.... I know, I'm a lazy bastardo. Yup, that's me... laziness at its best. I guess with the end of tri season, change of weather and my horrible 2nd marathon ever, the last thing I wanted to do was write about it.

I can avoid it for a while but not for-evah. On the other hand when I read some blogs (the ones listen on the right) I do want to say something too.

Ok, so the Chi mara. It simply went aweful. Ok, that's all I'm writing about it.

No, j/k... I know I didn't trained properly but I wasn't expecting getting an old injury back! Arrived in Chicago on Sat 10/11. Went to the Expo which was fantastic, they had a ton of really cool things big stands, every single running brand you can think of, games, prizes, Bart Yasso signing his book, etc. On Sun 10/12 at 7:15ish am I got to the starting line, got situated with the 8:45 pace group. It was really cool to be around so many people. We started right on time 8am and off we went. Absolutely loved the crowds, they were cheering pretty much the whole 26.2 miles.

I was going at about 9min/mile pace, very comfortable, feeling great and by mile 12 the outside of my right knee started to hurt. "Oh please not again!!!" I had the same problem last year in Memphis when I ran my 1st marathon, it was at mile 17/18.. had to walk and run for a while (2 miles) until the Aleve I took kicked in and finished running it (slower but I was able to run it). Back in April this year it happened again when I ran the GO St. Louis Half Marathon at mile 9. I remember crossing the finish line limping and in so much pain.

Going back to Chicago. I had some pain killers which I took but I am not sure if they didn't work as well as they did in Memphis but the pain never went away, maybe a little bit but not enough to keep running. My split 13.1 was 2hrs 1min and from then on it all went down hill. I walked, stopped to strech and tried to run but it was too painful. I finished in 2hrs 43min (Last year in Memphis I finished at 4hrs 2min)

On top of that, for the first time ever I got a black toenail. It's my big right toenail. I'm pretty sure it will fall off... great! At least this happened at the end of the season. I had planned to run a couple of local 5Ks and maybe a 10K but it all depends on the freaking nail. LOL

This past Friday I went to see a Chiropractor who does ART (Active Release Techniques). She adjusted my back and I am going back on Monday for my knees issues... I hear ART is a bit painful but very effective. I am willing to try it. Last year I did PT and I think it helped some but obviously it did not get fixed...

Hope everyone is enjoying the fall and getting ready for: (evil voice) H A L L O W E E N!!!

PC

IRONMAN 70.3 Cancun, Mexico pics - Sept 21, 2008

Back from Mex & CUN 70.3 RR

Can't believe I'm back... Mexico was so cool. Came back this past Sunday night and Mon had to go back to work... don't you hate that?

So we left STL on Fri the 19th, arrived in Cancun at around 3pm, there were quite a few other athletes arriving with their bike boxes, wheel bags and that. Then we went to the hotel (Fiesta Americana - the race host hotel). As soon as we got out of the airport we felt it... toasty weather!

Checked-in, got to the room, changed and after while the familia went to the pool to chill and I went to check out the Expo. Got my goodie bag and joined the fam at the pool. Later we had dinner, went back to the room and I put the bike together. Sat woke up at 7am, grabbed a shuttle bus the hotel/race had available for the racers that took us to the swim practice. Swam for about 25min and went back. Had breakfast and went for a ride to make sure the bike was ok, especially since tat was the first time I put the whole thing together by myself (wheels, handle bar, pedals, seat and derailleur). Bike felt great, went back, went to the pool for a while, ate, went to the race update meeting, took the bike to race site to leave it in TA, came back, ate and went to bed.

Woke up at 4:15am, got changed and left. Got to race site, set up TA and waited. We started right on time. My wave was at 7:07am. We started right on time. Saw the pros go first (Chris Legh , Oscar Galindez, LukeMcKenzie, Pip Taylor, Michellie Jones, etc)

1.2 mile swim: 37min 29sec 51:35/100meters - The swim went fine, started a little too conservative I think, but since it was my first time racing in the ocean I just wanted to take my time. It was crowded and rough too. Weather-wise great!

T1: s..l..o..w... 6min 22sec it was a long 300 - 350 meter run from the beach to TA plus, I had to stop to pee... hee hee. Oh well!

56 mile bike: 2hrs 52min 49sec 19.2mph avg - The bike went really good. Totally flat, a bit windy at times but in general really good. Agua, Perpetuem and Hammer gel worked great. This time I added 1 salt pill (Endurolytes) each hour and Nuun caps to the water. No problems there, all good! Weather-wise it felt pretty good... it even rained for a bit, nice breeze too.

T2: 2min 39sec BAU

(here comes the 'fun' part)
13.1 mile run: 2hrs 10min 17sec - The run simply SUCKED. Started pretty ok but by mile 5 the sun came out, and OMG I could feel it and badly. It was unbelievably hot and humid. I had to walk a ton. Later I learned it was in the 100s (around 112 and 100% humidity) ouch... very ouch! I walked during several water stations, and they had them every km (0.62 miles) and it almost felt not enough! But it was, it was just crazy, nasty and stupid hot. The volunteers were really nice. They had small bags of agua which you'd grab, bit a corner and drink it and/our pour it all over. They also had ice cubes, Gatorade, Power gels, oranges, bananas and Coke.

Crossed the line at 5hrs 51min 16sec. It was such a great feeling finishing and seeing the familia cheering... Finally I did a 70.3 (Kansas doesn't count!)
They had food, drinks, cold towels, the medal and finisher t-shirts. There was also a medical tent packed with athletes laying with a horrible and painful look in their faces with IVs hooked in their arms... thank God I wasn't one of them.

Had a couple of Gatorades and went to hang out with the fam. Later I went to get my stuff and we went back to the hotel to celebrate the mexican way... TEQUILA BABY! :) Ate a ton and drank some too..... that night I slept like a baby... like a drunk baby... lol

In other news... I am doing my last tri (sprint: 500yS/21MB/5MR) of the season this Sunday and sadly, like Sam, a fellow blogger said for us Midwesterners tri season is over now.
And on 10/11 I'm travelling to Chicago to run the Bank of America Marathon (formerly known as La Salle Marathon)

Andrea - I promise I am posting at least 5 pics soon! :)

EL FIN!

PC

6 more days...

...until Ironman 70.3 Cancun. My -almost- last tri of the season. I say almost because I MIGHT do one more, the St. Peters Rec-Plex Fall Tri on Oct 5th. It's a sprint one: 500yS/21MB/5MR. I did it last year and it's a nice way to end the season. But we'll see, kind of undecided yet.

I see some of the bloggers I read have been working on their 2009 race schedule, which makes me think I should as well, even though I have been thinking about 1 or 2 here and there. I will come up with a list soon.

I also see some bloggers write less and less....(including me) as the tri season ends I can tell triathletes are fading out. On one hand I feel I need a break, months and months of training feel heavy and our bodies are asking for some rest, some bad food and some beer :)

I miss waking up in the morning, looking outside and see daylight, you know?

On the other hand I know after a couple of weeks I will be missing the tri season big time.

My plan right now is to focus on Cancun, have a good race, enjoy it and have fun. We're staying in Mexico for about a week after the race... BUT... things are not over yet for me. I still have the Chicago Marathon... and it's only 3 weeks after 70.3! Wait, before you say how crazy (or dumb) this guy is for registering for these 2 races, let me explain how this happened. Last year, after my first full marathon (December 08 - Memphis, TN) I decided to do one marathon a year, so after Chicago opened registration I went ahead and registered. A few months later, the familia and I were looking to do a vacation, we wanted to go to some beach. Initially we thought FL, looked for prices, they were kind of high so I decided to check Mexico thinking 'what if'... well... I was right. I ended up finding cheaper flights. So in the process of buying the tix it hit me.

PC's brain: "Dude, there's a 70.3 in Cancun!!!" Checked with the wife and the cool, supportive and understanding wife she is, she said: "do it, might as well!" YES!!!!!!

Wait.... the tri is 3 weeks after Chicago... D'oh! But I thought, I could do Chicago any other year (I'm about 5 hrs drive away) and I don't know when I would be able to go to Cancun again, so I registered. And after months of training and some of those months I have been working with Coach, we (Coach and I) decided I still should and could do Chicago even though my priority is Cancun. Obviously I won't be PR'ing in Chicago, still it'll be great to run with so many people.

I've checking the weather for Cancun and man oh man, it's gonna be H O T !

For race day Sun Sept 21 it says: "Very humid with periods of clouds and sunshine. High 88 - Heat index: 105" Wow... it's gonna be interesting.

Good luck to all of you racing next weekend!

PC

Lake Saint Louis Oly triathlon race report and more...

This past weekend (Saturday) I raced LSL (Lake St. Louis) Oly tri.... and allow me to say it went GREAT.. better than expected.... this was supposed to be a B race but I ended up PR'ing :)

Fantastic weather.... in the low 70s.... excellent day for a tri - even though later in the day it got hot.... and humid.

The swim - 0.9 miles
Started feeling a bit tired.... I've been thinking about maybe all the 2008 (and part of 07) training has been building up and I was starting to get tired... and I realized it was more mental than physical. My last swim I felt tired.. heavy arms.. etc... I remember telling one of my friend's right before we started: "I feel like I'm not ready for this tri"
The siren went off and we started.... felt really good and very relaxed.... after probably the first 300 meters I found this guy and I drafted him.. almost the whole swim... AGAIN! I did the exact same thing the previous weekend at the Chicago Oly tri. Felt strong and towards the end I passed that guy and finished hard.
- Swim time: 26min 06sec Swim pace: 1:48/100m (2nd fastest swim in my AG)

T1 time: 1min 52sec

The bike - 24.8 miles
The bike went great. Felt awesome so I decided to hammer it.
Everything worked out perfect... this time the bike shoes on the pedals were fine.
- Bike time: 1hr 11min 38sec Avg MPH: 20.8! My fastest evah!! :)

T2 time: 1min 2sec

The run - 6.2 miles
I was a bit more tired than usual after the bike because I went faster than usual but I thought what the heck.... I grabbed water at each water station and kept going. Close to the finish line I heard all the people, a few people I knew started cheering and I sprinted to the finish line, which was up hill - ouch!
Run time: 47min 24sec Run pace: 7:38min/mile

Hats off to the organizers and race director, who I actually know. He did an amazing job. This year's race was even better than last's.

Total time: 2hrs 28min 2sec (My last year's time was 2hrs 44min)

AG: 7/34 - OA: 63/327

In other news... Today Coach had me doing an 1hr 15min run in HR zone 1!!!! The whole 1hr 15min! It was cra-zy! Never done it before.... she's so funny, she said: "Embarrassingly slow"
I came home after work got ready and started to pour... bad! Lightning and all. Decided to go to the gym and do it on a treadmill.... the first 30min I was at 15min/mile! LOL and my HR zone was still reaching zone 2, so I had to SLOW DOWN.... it was actually kind of funny. I did it, done.. finished... no mas!!!

(with announcer's voice): Aaaaaaaaand now.. iiiiiiiiit's time to think about IM 70.3!
18 days and counting!

PC

Back in STL

The Chicago race was pretty cool.

Left St. Louis on Fri afternoon - a lot later than expected - and arrived in Chicago after midnight. Went to our friend's place and straight to bed.. exhausted!

Sat am headed to the Expo at the Hilton in downtown Chicago. Awesome Expo, loved it, lots of cool stuff.

Gave my race number, got my bib, got the chip, confirmed it, got my goodie bag and swimming cap. Got body marked. They wrote my wave number on my calf: 46, and the lady told me to go check my wave time on a chart... my start time was 9:21AM! D'oh! Bummer... because they opened TA from 4:15AM until 5:45AM, meaning every single athlete needed to be there in between that time and then out of there.

Sun morning was nice, in the low 70s and no humidity, and it stayed like that pretty much the whole day.

I got there just a bit before 5AM, got all my stuff ready in the biggest transition area I have ever seen.... sadly I don't have any pics of it, I didn't have my cam with me... I know, what was I thinking?!?... sorry! Anyway, done with TA setup and I was like: uh... ok.. now what?!?!? Walked around, saw the sprinters start... walked some more... laid down on the grass, took a 15 min nap.... I tell ya.. it sucked! I was there just walking around for about 5 hrs!

The family got there about 30 min before my start, thank God because I had a bag on me - and even thought they had a check-in bag area, I felt better leaving all my stuff with them. Got ready got on line with my group.

We started right on time, and for the first time I drafted in the swim.... the whole swim! It was awesome! Got behind this girl who pretty much lead me until the end.

- 1,500 meters (.9 miles) Swim time: 26min 15sec

Got our of Lake Michigan and jogged a quarter of a mile to TA!!

Took wetsuit off, grabbed my stuff and took off.

- T1 time: 3min 30sec!!!

I made a very bad/dumb/stupid/rookie mistake on the bike. I left my shoes (on the pedals) but... with the velcro on! So after a few min I was pedaling I reached to get my feet in the shoes and I realized the velcro was on.... I of tried to opened them up but couldn't.. HAD TO STOP!! I was so mad... quite frustrating. Stopped, got off the bike, took the shoes off the pedals with my hands, got the shoes on, clipped them and took off again. Surprisingly enough I had a great ride, in fact my best race ride ever. I ended up with an average of 20.1 MPH, really fast for me considering the bike is my weakest leg. The bike course was pretty flat though, and bumpy too.

- 40Km (24.8 miles) Bike time: 1hr 13min 44sec

Got back to TA, got my running shoes, bib and visor and I was gone.

- T2 time: 2min 35sec

Needless to say my legs were tired for the run and I could tell... I obviously went too hard on the bike... still I felt ok and just ran!

- 10Km (6.2 miles) Run time: 48min 46sec (7:51min/mile)

AG: 64/499

OA: 470/4089

It was a fun race, great experience racing with that many athletes and all but don't know if I would go back. To me it was one of those 'had to do' kinda race.

This weekend I got Lake St. Louis Oly tri. Last year my time was 2hrs 44min. And even though this is not an A race for me I am still curious to see what time would I have.

PC